Rammer head

ABSTRACT

A rammer head structure in which two entrapped flexible gripper segments, such as rubber gripper segments, are squeezed against the shoulder on the rear of an ammunition cartridge case at a loading station to securely grip the round of ammunition and move it forward through a loading tube into the breech of a gun barrel with the rammer head structure being released from the round of ammunition after it has been partly positioned in the breech of the gun barrel.

United States Patent [451 June 20, 1972 Hayes et a].

I 54] RAMMER HEAD [72] Inventors: John R. Hayes, Indianapolis; Francis H.

Eckart, Bargersville; Donald E. Peck, Indianapolis, all of Ind.

[73] Assignee: General Motors Corporation, Detroit,

Mich.

[221 Filed: Nov. 30, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 93,606

[52] US. Cl ..89/47 [51] Int. Cl .F41f 17/16 [58] Field of Search ..89/45, 47

[56] References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 4,614 1896 Great Britain ..89/47 262,858 12/1926 Great Britain ..89/47 Primary Examiner-Stephen C. Bentley Attomey-Jean L. Carpenter and Arthur N. Krein ABSTRACT A rammer head structure in which two entrapped flexible gripper segments, such as rubber gripper segments, are squeezed against the shoulder on the rear of an ammunition cartridge case at a loading station to securely grip the round of ammunition and move it forward through a loading tube into the breech of a gun barrel with the rammer head structure being released from the round of ammunition after it has been partly positioned in the breech of the gun barrel.

5 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PliTENTEl'lJunzo I972 SHEET 10F 3 Ill- John iii/1b TORNEY PATENTEDaunzo I972 3, 670.624

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i m K fi INVENTORS Donald C. Peck d dZa/X ATTORNEY RAMMER HEAD The invention herein described was made in the course of work under a contract or subcontract thereunder with the Department of Defense."

This invention relates to a rammer head for breech loading guns and, specifically, to a rammer head structure usable on conventional rounds of ammunition and on missiles in which the rammer head engages the shoulder on the rear of the ammunition cartridge case to grip it and hold it for movement through a loading tube into the breech of a gun.

It is known in prior art rammer head structures to use metal claws which are positioned to snap over the shoulder at the rear of an ammunition cartridge case but the use of such metal claws frequently causes scuffing or damage of the cartridge case since these claws engage only a small area of the cartridge at excessively high unit pressure.

It is therefore the principal object of this invention to improve a rammer head structure for use in a breech loading gun in which the round of ammunition to be inserted into the breech of the gun is uniformly gripped by a flexible material to prevent scuffing of the round of ammunition.

A further object of this invention is to improve a rammer head structure for gripping a round of ammunition by the squeezing action thereon of an elastometer material to preclude any damage to the round and to prevent rotation of the round.

These and other objects of the invention are attained by means of a rammer head structure including a rammer head liner support-actuator member having a rammer body telescoped for reciprocating movement therein, with grippers made of an elastometer material, secured at one end to the rammer head liner support-actuator member and at the opposite end connected to the rammer body. A pair of rammer head chains are secured to the rammer head to effect relative movement of the rammer head with respect to the support-actuator member to effect gripping of an ammunition round by the grippers and then to move the thus gripped round of ammunition through a loading tube into the breech of the gun. Detent means are provided along the path of movement of the rammer to momentarily retain the support-actuator member so that upon movement of the rammer body, the grippers are convoluted to squeeze against the shoulder of a round of ammunition so that the round is firmly gripped by the rammer head, spring biased cam locks then being used to releasably retain the grippers in the convoluted position. Trip lever mechanisms are provided in the loading tube to release the cam locks so that a spring, operatively positioned between the support-actuator member and the rammer body, will effect relative movement between these two elements to release the grippers from the round of ammunition.

For a better understanding of the invention, as well as other objects and further features thereof, reference is had to the following detailed description of the invention to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a horizontal, sectional view of the rammer head structure of the invention, with the parts shown in position prior to engagement with a round of ammunition;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section of the rammer head structure of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the rammer head assembly of FIG. 1 showing details of the gripper arrangement;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the rammer head structure; and

FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C and 5D illustrate somewhat schematically the sequence of operation of the various elements of the rammer head structure as it is moved from an initial rammer head uncooked position to a gripping position, to a start of ammunition release position and to the final ammunition release position.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a rammer head structure, generally designated by the reference numeral 10, used to grip a round of ammunition 11 and then through the action of a parallel set of stiff-backed rammer chains 12 advance or ram the round of ammunition forward into the loading tube 13 movably positioned adjacent to the breech 14 of a gun barrel and then into the breech of the gun with the release of the round of ammunition being effected while the rear portion of the round is still in the loading tube head portion of the loading tube, as shown in FIGS. 5C and 5D. The details of the gun and of the loading tube are not described in detail since they form no part of the subject invention, although the trip lever release mechanism positioned in the head of the loading tube which coacts with the rammer head structure of the invention will be described in detail hereinafter.

The rammer head 10 includes a rammer head liner supportactuator member 18 which can be formed as a unitary structure or, as shown, in two parts consisting of a liner support 20 and an actuator 21 suitably secured together. Liner support 20 has a radially extending body 22 with a central aperture 23 therein and a plurality of arcuate axially extending flanges concentric with aperture 23, two flanges being used in the embodiment shown to form a pair of opposed arcuate jaws 24. The liner support 20 is fixed, as by screws 25, to the radial body portion 26 of the actuator 21, with the inner axially extending tubular portion 27 of the actuator extending through the aperture 23. The radial body portion 26 is apertured to slideably receive the axially extending shaft 28 of a rammer body 29, the outer opposed arcuate positions 31 of the rammer head being slideably received inside the opposed flanges 24 on the outboard side of the actuator, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the embodiment shown, a pair of grippers or liners 32, hereinafter referred to as grippers, are positioned within the liner support and are secured at opposite ends thereof to the liner support 20 and the rammer body 29. As shown, each gripper 32 is fixed at one end to the underside of an arcuate jaw 24 as by means of rivets 33 extending through suitable apertures in an arcuate retainer 34, apertures in a reinforcing and attaching plate 35 embedded in the gripper 32 and suitable apertures in the outboard free end of the arcuate jaws 24, the opposite stepped leg end 32a of the gripper being received in the stepped outboard face of the arcuate portion 31 of the rammer body 29 and held in place by a metal backing plate 36 fixed, as by screws 37, to the rammer body, the outboard side of the backing plate 36 having a pad 38 of resilient material, such as rubber, bonded thereto. The pad 38 and backing plate 36 forming with the rammer body 29, a composite rammer body structure.

The grippers or liners 32 can be made of any suitable elastometer material, such as rubber or Polyisoprene, with the plate 35 molded into the axially extending base end of the gripper. In addition, each side of the gripper is reinforced with two layers of a suitably treated fabric 39, such as Nylon, to strengthen the area where the gripper convolutes and grasps the ammunition round.

Movement of the thus described structure into engagement with a round of ammunition and continued movement to move or ram the round through the loading tube and into the breech of a gun, such movement being toward the left with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, and its return movement to the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is effected by a pair of stiffbacked rammer chains 12, connected to the rammer head body in a manner to be described, which are driven by a pair of sprockets 41 secured as by keys 42 to the shafts 43 suitably journaled in a composite support frame 40, the shafts being driven by a pair of suitable drive motors, such as hydraulic drive motors, not shown. The ends of the rammer chains 12 are connected by link connectors 44; pins 45 and cotter pins 45a to the offset bosses 46 provided intermediate the ends of a lock stake 47.

One end, the left-hand end, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, of the lock stake 47 is engaged in the bored free end of shaft 28 of rammer body 29 and is secured thereto by a screw 48, with the annular collar of a latch release cam 51 secured therebetween. The opposed pair of cam portions of the release cam 51 are slideably received within the tubular portion 27 of actuator 21 for a purpose to be described in detail hereinafter. The rammer head 29 is normally biased in one direction, to the right as seen in FIG. 1, into engagement with radial body 26 of liner actuator 21 by means of a spring 49 encircling shaft 28 of the rammer body with one end of the spring 49 abutting against the radial body 26 and the other end abutting against the collar of the latch release cam 51.

As seen in FIG. 2, the opposite end of the lock stake 47 is provided with a lock aperture 52 to receive the reduced end of the piston 53 of a rammer lock mechanism. The piston 53, of stepped configuration, is slideably received within a stepped piston chamber 54 formed in the plunger housing 55 of frame 40 and is sealed at opposite ends relative to the piston chamber by means of seals 56 and 57. Intermediate these ends, the piston 53 is provided with the reduced portion to form with the piston bore an annular fluid pressure chamber 58 connected by a conduit 59 to a suitable source of pressurized hydraulic fluid.

The piston 53 is normally biased upward, as seen in FIG. 2, into engagement with the lock stake by means of a pair of springs 61 and 62 abutting at one end against the bottom of the piston and at their opposite ends against a retainer 63 held in the piston bore by a retaining ring 64 positioned in suitable annular grooves formed in the periphery of the retainer and in the plunger housing.

Release of the lock stake 47 for movement to the left, as seen in FIG. 2, is effected by introducing pressurized hydraulic fluid into the pressure chamber portion of the piston chamber to move the piston downward against the biasing action of the springs. After release of the lock stake and movement of it to the left, as seen in this figure, out of engagement with the piston, bleeding of the hydraulic fluid from the piston chamber will again allow the springs 61 and 62 to bias the piston upward into the position shown in FIG. 2. As the latch stake 47 is moved from left to right to the position shown in FIG. 2, the free end of the latch stake 47 will cam the piston 53 downward against the biasing action of the springs by engagement of the cam portion 47a at the free end of the lock stake with the reduced portion of the piston to allow the lock stake to ride over the piston.

After the lock stake has been released, as described above, the motors used to drive the sprockets 41 are energized to effect movement of the rammer chains 12 to move the rammer body 29.

Relative movement between the rammer body 29 and the support-actuator 18 to convolute the grippers 32, as the rammer head is moved to the left, as seen in FIG. 2, is effected by means of a pair of actuator retaining latches 65 pivotally connected to the frame 40 at positions diametrically opposite to each other to engage the actuator 21 and retain its movement and that of the liner support 21 for a period of time sufficient to convolute the grippers 32.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and A, each actuator retaining latch 65 is pivotally secured by a pin 66 to the frame 40 for movement from a position out of operative engagement with the tubular portion 27 of the actuator 21, the position shown in phantom outline in FIG. 2, to a position in which it extends through an axially extending slot 67 in the tubular portion 21 wherein the hook portion 68 thereon can engage the stop portion 27a at the end of the slot 67 in the tubular portion. Each actuator retaining latch is normally biased to this latter position by means ofa coiled spring 71 abutting at one end against the actuator retaining latch with which it is associated and, at its other end against the closed end of a plunger 72 slideably retained in the actuator retaining latch with its crown closed end in engagement with a portion of the frame 40.

Thus, the actuator retaining latches 65 are normally in the position as shown in FIG. 2 with the hook portion 68 of each latch extending through a slot 67 in position to engage a stop portion 27a. As the rammer body 29 and the liner support-actuator 18 is moved to the left, with reference to FIGS. 2 and 5A, these elements are free to move to a position in which the rubber pad 38 on the rammer body 29 contacts the rear face of a round of ammunition at the loading station, the arcuate jaws 24 of the liner support 20 encircling portions of the rear shoulder of the ammunition round 1 1.

When this occurs, the actuator 21 has moved to a position, as shown in FIG. 5A, at which the hook portions 68 of the actuator retaining latches 65 engage the stop portions 27a on the tubular portion 27 to momentarily arrest the movement of the actuator 21 to the left as seen in these figures. However, as this occurs, the rammer body 29 is still free to be moved to the left, relative to the now stopped position of the actuator, by the rammer chains effecting relative movement of a portion of the grippers 32 with respect to the liner support 20 to convolute these grippers into engagement with the shoulder of the round of ammunition, as seen in FIG. 513.

Then, as the rammer body is further moved to the left by the rammer chains, the cam portions of the latch release cam 51 will be moved into position to engage the hook portions 68 of the actuator retaining latches 65 to cam them out of engagement with the stop portions 27a, thus releasing the actuator 21 and therefore the support-actuator member 18 for continued movement with the rammer body 29 to the left to effect ramming of the round of ammunition into the breech of a gun. On the return movement of these elements to the position shown in FIG. 2, the actuator retaining latches 65 are again pivoted against the biasing action of the springs 71 by engagement of the cam portion of the latch release cam 51 and the cam edge 27b of actuator 21 with the hook portions 68.

Once the grippers 32 are convoluted, they are retained in this position by means of a pair of cam locks 73, only one being shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 which are preferably positioned diametrically opposite to each other to retain the rammer head 29 in a fixed position relative to the liner support 20 and actuator 21. As shown most clearly in FIG. 1, each cam lock 73 is pivotally mounted by means of a pin 74 to an axially extending boss 75 provided on the radial body 26 of the actuator 21, both the radial body 26 of actuator 21 and the body 22 of the liner support 20 being suitably notched to permit pivotal movement of the cam lock 73.

Each cam lock 73 is normally biased in a pivotal direction, clockwise for the cam lock shown in FIG. 1, into engagement with the back side, right-hand side in this figure, of the rammer body 29 by means of a spring 76 bias plunger 77 slideably journaled in a plunger housing 78 fixed to the body 22 of liner support 20. Each cam lock 73 normally extends into a cam slot 79 provided in the rammer body 29, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5A, but upon relative movement between the rammer head 29 and the actuator 21, as previously described, the cam lock can move to an over-center position as shown in FIG. 5B and in phantom outline in FIG. 1 to lock the rammer body in spaced apart relation with respect to the radial body 26 of actuator 21, to retain the grippers 32 convoluted to grasp the ammunition round during ramming of it into the breech of the gun.

Thus, when the actuator is restrained by the actuator retaining latches 65 as previously described, causing the grippers 32 to convolute and firmly grasp the round, the rammer head assembly is concurrently locked upon the round by the spring 76 loaded plungers 75 pushing against the cam locks 73 to rotate them over-center. When this is complete, the actuator retaining latches 65 are cammed aside by the latch release cam 51, as previously described, freeing the rammer head structure. Thus, FIG. 5B illustrates the cam lock 73 pushed over-center and the actuator retaining latch 65 about to be cammed aside by the latch release cam 51 to release the actuator 21. This entire action occurs during continual advance of the rammer head body as the rammer head then continues to push the round from the loading station through the loading tube 13 and into the breech 14 of the gun.

As the rear of an ammunition round is about to exit from the loading tube 13, means are provided in the path of travel of the rammer head in the loading tube to release the round from the rammer head assembly. As shown in FIGS. 5C and 5D, a

pair of diametrically opposite levers 81, only one of which is shown, trip the rammer head cam locks 73 at the end of the loading stroke to free the round of ammunition from the rammer head assembly.

As shown in these figures, each lever 81 is pivoted on a pin 82 fixed to the loading tube and is pushed inward by a spring 83 loaded piston 84 that is slideably received in a piston cup 85 secured to the loading tube. The piston 84 is provided with a vent 86 to prevent a lockup of it from entrapped air or moisture. Pivotal movement of the lever 81 in one direction is arrested by a stop pin 87 fixed to the loading tube.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 5C, the lever 91 is normally positioned with its offset catch portion in alignment to engage the cam lock 73 to trip it over to release the rammer body 29 for axial movement relative to the actuator 21. As this occurs, the support-actuator member 18 is moved relative to the rammer body 29 to the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 5D by the biasing action of the spring 49 encircling the shaft 28 of the rammer body 29, as previously described.

With a rammer head constructed in accordance with the invention as described, a round of ammunition can be delivered into the breech of a gun without damage to the ammunition case, the squeezing action of the grippers onto the round preventing rotation of the round out of an original indexed position.

What is claimed is:

1. A rammer head for gripping and ramming a round of ammunition from a loading station through a loading tube into the breech of a gun, the rammer head including a support-actuator member having at least a pair of radially outwardly spaced, axially extending arcuate jaws,

a rammer body telescoped within said support actuator member and axially moveable therein between a first position and a second position,

bias means connected to said rammer body to normally bias said rammer body to said first position,

liner means in said support-actuator member and connected at one end to said arcuate jaws and at the other end to said rammer body,

rammer moving means operatively connected to said rammer body to move said rammer body axially to ram a round of ammunition and to effect relative axial movement of said rammer body with respect to said supportactuator member between said first position in which said liner means lie flat against said arcuate jaws to said second position in which said liner means are convoluted against said arcuate jaws to grasp a round of ammunition between said arcuate jaws with the said liner means convoluted therebetween, and

cam lock means operatively connected to said support-actuator member to releasably engage said rammer body to hold said rammer body with respect to said support-actuator in said second position in which said liner means are convoluted against said arcuate jaws.

2. A rammer head according to claim 1 wherein said liner means are of an elastometer material covered with at least one layer of fabric and wherein the end of said rammer body adjacent to said liner means is faced with a pad of resilient material.

3. A rammer head according to claim 1 wherein said rammer moving means includes rammer chain drive means operatively connected to said rammer body to move said rammer body axially in a path of travel from a loading station toward the breech of the gun,

actuator retaining latch means pivotally mounted adjacent to the path of travel of said rammer body and normally biased into position to engage said support-actuator member whereby said rammer head is moveable with respect to said support-actuator member from said first position to said second position, and

latch release means operatively positioned on said rammer body to release said actuator latch means from engagement with said support-actuator member. 4. A rammer head according to claim 1 further including trip release means positioned along the path of travel of said rammer body to engage said cam lock means to release said rammer body from said second position whereby said bias means is effective to move said rammer body from said second position to said first position relative to said support-actuator member.

5. A rammer head for gripping a round of ammunition at a loading station and then ramming it through a loading tube into the breech of a gun, the rammer head including a support-actuator member having an axially slotted tubular portion and at least a pair of axially extending arcuate jaws radially outwardly spaced from said tubular portion and concentric therewith,

a rammer body telescopically positioned within said support-actuator member for movement relative thereto between a first position and a second position,

bias means connected to said rammer body to normally bias said rammer head to said first position,

said rammer body having a shaft portion slideable in said hollow tubular portion of said support-actuator member and a radially extending flange at one end thereof slideable axially between said arcuate jaws,

at least a pair of gripper means of elastometer material, each of said gripper means being secured at one end to one of said arcuate jaws and at its opposite end to said rammer head,

rammer drive means connected to said rammer body to move said rammer body axially from a loading station into the loading tube adjacent to the breech of the gun,

actuator retaining latch means positioned adjacent to the path of travel of said rammer body for movement from an engaging position to arrest axial movement of said support-actuator member whereby said rammer head is moved from said first position to said second position relative to said support-actuator member, to a non-engaging position out of engagement with said support-actuator member,

latch release means operatively connected to said rammer body in position to engage and move said actuator retaining latch means to said non-engaging position,

cam lock means pivotally mounted on said support-actuator means for biased movement from a first position out of locking engagement with said rammer body to a second position in locking engagement with said rammer body to releasably hold it in said second position with respect to said support-actuator member, and

trip release means positioned along the path of travel of said rammer body to engage said cam lock means to pivot said cam lock means to said first position out of locking engagement with said rammer body. 

1. A rammer head for gripping and ramming a round of ammunition from a loading station through a loading tube into the breech of a gun, the rammer head including a support-actuator member having at least a pair of radially outwardly spaced, axially extending arcuate jaws, a rammer body telescoped within said support actuator member and axially moveable therein between a first position and a second position, bias means connected to said rammer body to normally bias said rammer body to said first position, liner means in said support-actuator member and connected at one end to said arcuate jaws and at the other end to said rammer body, rammer moving means operatively connected to said rammer body to move said rammer body axially to ram a round of ammunition and to effect relative axial movement of said rammer body with respect to said support-actuAtor member between said first position in which said liner means lie flat against said arcuate jaws to said second position in which said liner means are convoluted against said arcuate jaws to grasp a round of ammunition between said arcuate jaws with the said liner means convoluted therebetween, and cam lock means operatively connected to said support-actuator member to releasably engage said rammer body to hold said rammer body with respect to said support-actuator in said second position in which said liner means are convoluted against said arcuate jaws.
 2. A rammer head according to claim 1 wherein said liner means are of an elastometer material covered with at least one layer of fabric and wherein the end of said rammer body adjacent to said liner means is faced with a pad of resilient material.
 3. A rammer head according to claim 1 wherein said rammer moving means includes rammer chain drive means operatively connected to said rammer body to move said rammer body axially in a path of travel from a loading station toward the breech of the gun, actuator retaining latch means pivotally mounted adjacent to the path of travel of said rammer body and normally biased into position to engage said support-actuator member whereby said rammer head is moveable with respect to said support-actuator member from said first position to said second position, and latch release means operatively positioned on said rammer body to release said actuator latch means from engagement with said support-actuator member.
 4. A rammer head according to claim 1 further including trip release means positioned along the path of travel of said rammer body to engage said cam lock means to release said rammer body from said second position whereby said bias means is effective to move said rammer body from said second position to said first position relative to said support-actuator member.
 5. A rammer head for gripping a round of ammunition at a loading station and then ramming it through a loading tube into the breech of a gun, the rammer head including a support-actuator member having an axially slotted tubular portion and at least a pair of axially extending arcuate jaws radially outwardly spaced from said tubular portion and concentric therewith, a rammer body telescopically positioned within said support-actuator member for movement relative thereto between a first position and a second position, bias means connected to said rammer body to normally bias said rammer head to said first position, said rammer body having a shaft portion slideable in said hollow tubular portion of said support-actuator member and a radially extending flange at one end thereof slideable axially between said arcuate jaws, at least a pair of gripper means of elastometer material, each of said gripper means being secured at one end to one of said arcuate jaws and at its opposite end to said rammer head, rammer drive means connected to said rammer body to move said rammer body axially from a loading station into the loading tube adjacent to the breech of the gun, actuator retaining latch means positioned adjacent to the path of travel of said rammer body for movement from an engaging position to arrest axial movement of said support-actuator member whereby said rammer head is moved from said first position to said second position relative to said support-actuator member, to a non-engaging position out of engagement with said support-actuator member, latch release means operatively connected to said rammer body in position to engage and move said actuator retaining latch means to said non-engaging position, cam lock means pivotally mounted on said support-actuator means for biased movement from a first position out of locking engagement with said rammer body to a second position in locking engagement with said rammer body to releasably hold it in said second position with respect to said support-actuator member, and trip release means positioneD along the path of travel of said rammer body to engage said cam lock means to pivot said cam lock means to said first position out of locking engagement with said rammer body. 